Hugs
by JustYourAverageWhovian
Summary: Because everybody wants a hug every now and again, even in Merlin. Drabbles based around hugs! The Round Table Of Bromance have decreed that it must be done. Chapter 5: "Arthur. I'm pregnant."
1. Chapter 1

This is going to be a sort of drabble marathon countdown to series 5. And a bit of a thank you to all my lovely reviewers for my other stories, you guys have been seriously making my life recently, and I want to hug you all. Alas, I cannot, but this is for you guys.

*0*0*

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur asked, gaping at his manservant.

"Tidying sire, what else?" Merlin replied flatly.

"Well it's just, you never tidy."Arthur noticed Merlin roll his eyes at this comment and then wince.

"Normally, _sire_, I wait until you're not around, so as not to disturb you." Merlin stood up with an armful of clothes and headed to the door. "Will that be all?" That was it. Arthur was convinced. In one swift monition, the young king was on his feet, a sword on Merlin's neck.

"Who are you and what have you done with Merlin." Merlin gaped at Arthur for a moment before saying;

"It's me sire, what convinced you otherwise?"

"I don't know, maybe the 'sires' and the 'cleaning' and the fact that you're doing your job for once." Arthur cringed inwardly at the hurt expression that flickered across his manservant's face before he became completely stoic again.

"As your servant, it is my job to fulfil my duties, I was merely showing the respect you deserve as my king. I am but a mere servant; I have no right to treat you in any other manner." Arthur barely managed to disguise the snort of disbelief that he emitted.

"You're joking right?" Arthur laughed. However, his laughter soon faded when he saw the sombre expression on Merlin's face. "This isn't about yesterday, is it?" There is was, the familiar slump of defeat, his eyes cast at the ground. "Merlin, I was angry. Frustrated. And you were just, _there_. Being annoying _you_."

"You hit me." Merlin stated, barely concealing the hurt and disappointment in his voice.

"I know, and for that I am eternally sorry. I was having a bad day, but I had no right to take it out on you." Arthur said quietly, placing a hand on the manservant's shoulder. Merlin shrugged the hand off and rubbed the bruised area around his left eye.

"It hurt." Merlin whispered, his voice cracking. Arthur looked away, ashamed.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"I thought I was you friend Arthur, You're...you're like a brother to me. Brothers don't hit each other." The young man's voice wobbled slightly, but before any tears had the chance to fall, Arthur grabbed Merlin's shoulders and pulled his lanky body into his in a bear hug. Arthur pressed his face into Merlin's raven hair, desperately trying to hide the tears of guilt and shame glistening in his eyes.

*0*0*

Well. That was angsty. I promise the others won't be like that. I TAKE REQUESTS! And promts or whatever you'd like to call them, so please, if you have am idea, pop them in a review and send them my way :')


	2. Chapter 2

This is for Curly Wurly Me, who requested:

"Can I request drunk Gwaine hugging people and claiming his love for them?"

*0*0*

"For goodness sake Gwaine, get off the table!" Merlin bellowed, grabbing his friend's sleeve and hopelessly tugging.

"I shant Merlin! From here I can see the world, from here I can see all eternity-" Gwaine stumbled a little them resumed his speech. Merlin smiled apologetically at the barman, who was glaring in the drunkard's direction.

"Please Gwaine." The manservant begged. Suddenly, Merlin felt someone at his arm, only to find the King grinning amusedly at his knight.

"Need a hand there _Mer_lin?" Merlin rolled his eyes and nodded.

"He's been up there for about half an hour. I can't get him down!" Arthur nodded once before reaching under Gwaine's arm and heaving him off the table.

"Ah, thank you Arfur." Gwaine said with a giggle, bowing in front of his king.

"Gwaine for goodness sake, you don't do that when you're _sober_, don't bother when you're drunk." Arthur said mockingly.

"Why don't I Arfur? I love you!" Gwaine swung his arms out and embraced the rather startled monarch.

"Yes Gwaine, and I'm a married man." Arthur squirmed under the knight's grip while Merlin snorted from behind them.

"Not like that! You...you and Merwin are...my best friends!" Gwaine pointed between them and grinned. "C'mere Merwin!"

"Oh no you don't." Merlin laughed, then, with a glance at Arthur, grabbed at one of Gwaine's arms and hauled him out of the tavern.

After about half an hour of distractions and dragging, Arthur and Merlin managed to manhandle Gwaine to the courtyard where, much to their annoyance, the knights were on duty.

"Been on the drink again has he?" Leon said with a chuckle.

"LEON!" Before either sober participant could reply, Gwaine threw himself onto Leon before bellowing down his ear, "I LOVE YOU LEON!"

To their misfortune, Elyan and Percival were not spared this fate and before long each of the knights had had a big hug and had Gwaine announce his love for them.

"Right, now that's over-" Arthur was interrupted by another exclamation from the drunk knight.

"Can't we have a group hug?"

"A what?!" Elyan huffed.

"A group hug." Gwaine said with his arms crossed. Each of the knights and Merlin gazed at each other before coming to a mental agreement – Gwaine wasn't going to move until they all _hugged_. With an air of awkwardness unparalleled by any situation, they all shuffled slowly together and hugged. The hug lasted about 1 minute before Arthur announced that he, uhrm, needed to be somewhere and was closely followed by nearly everyone except Merlin, who took it upon himself to escort Gwaine to his chambers.

"Goodnight then Gwaine, I'll be by tomorrow with some painkiller for your hangover."

"Merlin?" the smallness of Gwaine's voice made the manservant turn around. Gwaine had his arms out and had a sad puppy dog expression on his face. "I never got that hug."

And with a small smile, Merlin strode over and embraced his possibly-not-as-sober-as-previously-thought friend tightly.

*0*0*

I TAKE REQUESTS! And promts or whatever you'd like to call them, so please, if you have am idea, pop them in a review and send them my way :')


	3. Chapter 3

Aaaand it's another promt! :D For OhHowDelightfullyDreadful:

"What if while they were hunting, Merlin slipped on some rocks and almost fell off a cliff, but Arthur caught him, called him an idiot, and half-willingly let Merlin hug him?"

*0*0*

_As if hunting in general wasn't bad enough... _Merlin thought angrily. Not only were the manservant and his master dreadfully lost – there are no cliffs anywhere Camelot – but Merlin's headache was driving him up the wall. The young warlock pondered that it was probably his fault, and made a mental note _never _to let Gwaine drag him to the tavern. _Ever_. Groaning, he pushed his hands up to his eyes to cover them from the evil sunlight, frying his eyeballs.

"Stop being such a _girl_, Merlin." Arthur said irritably. The king had already toppled over several times on the hazardous rocks on the cliff edge and his pride wasn't taking it very well.

"Remind me why we're walking in possibly one of the most dangerous places possible again?" Merlin grunted.

"Because, _Mer_lin, we're on high ground. We're more likely to see Camelot from up here, therefore getting home sooner rather than later." Merlin rolled his eyes at his masters know-it-all tone and was momentarily blinded, resulting in a very awkward tumble.

"Argh!" Arthur twisted around as fast as his body would let him, just allowing him to see his manservant disappear behind the cliff.

"Merlin!" He bellowed, throwing himself on the floor just in time to grab a handful of brown jacket. Quickly, he threw his other hand down and caught Merlin's wrist, tugging him inelegantly onto the ground he was _meant _to be standing on. A moment later found them lying on the stone floor, Merlin's torso draped unceremoniously across a rather amused Arthur. "Merlin, _you idiot_, get off me."

"Oh, sorry sire." Merlin muttered, heaving himself up onto his feet. The pair stood in front of each other awkwardly for a moment before Merlin said; "Well, thank you for saving my life."

"Ah, it was no trouble." Arthur brushed off the thank you with a smile. Merlin held his arms out in a hugging gesture, and, before the monarch could protest, embraced Arthur with a small smile. Arthur uneasily raised his hands and hugged back, then discovered that he quite enjoyed hugging the annoying manservant. _Rather like hugging a brother..._ Arthur thought, before dropping his arm and marching off with one arm remaining draped across Merlin's shoulders.

"You know... if you hadn't decided to fall in the first place, we may not be in this predicament." Arthur said quietly.

"Prat."

*0*0*

I TAKE REQUESTS! And promts or whatever you'd like to call them, so please, if you have am idea, pop them in a review and send them my way :')


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to do something different. I'm going to mould a couple of requests together! This is for:

Distressed Clover – "Maybe you could do one with Gwen and Elyan hugging for one reason or another...?"

Pagen Goddess – "Let's have Gwen and Merlin hug let's say after Gwen and Elyan have a fight or something." (minus fight)

Curly Wurly Me – "Can we get a Merlin/Gwen hug, cause there hasn't been nearly enough of those recently"

*0*0*

_This is...strange. _Gwen thought as she palmed her stomach. Definitely not expected. Gaius looked around at the expectant mother.

"Congratulations my lady." He said with a warm smile. Suddenly, she felt tears well up in her eyes and happiness flow through her. Quickly, the old physician walked over and hugged the Queen. The moment was soon crashed by a certain clumsy manservant and Elyan barging through the door.

"Well?" Elyan demanded. Gwen turned to her brother, beaming through her tears.

"I'm...pregnant!" Gwen said gleefully. Because Elyan was still getting over the shock, Merlin was the first to Gwen and grasp her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Be careful Merlin!" Gaius scolded.

"Sorry." The manservant said bashfully. "Congratulations!" Before Gwen could reply, Elyan strode over and put a hand on his sister's shoulder. Suddenly he grinned brightly and wrapped Gwen into a more delicate hug. All was silent until Merlin perked up.

"When are you going to tell Arthur?"

*0*0*

TOO BE CONTINUEEEEEEEED.


	5. Chapter 5

Woo! Hello readers! Here's the next drabble for you all! Remember I take requests and promts, so don't be shy and drop one by me! :D

I knew how I was going to write this one ever since I wrote the last one, it's too cute. :3 there's plenty of Arwen for those who ship it, but a bit of Merthur bromance too :')

*0*0*

"Good luck." Merlin said to his Queen.

"Thank you Merlin." She replied and then smiled gratefully. Merlin grinned as Gwen strode away into Arthur's chambers. Without knocking. He had taught her well.

"For goodness sake Merlin when will you ever learn-" Arthur started, before glancing up and seeing his wife standing in front of him. "Guinevere." He said, smiling warmly and standing from his desk to embrace her.

"You really must stop ill-treating Merlin you know." Gwen said, only half-joking into Arthur's chest.

"You and I both know that isn't going to happen." Arthur smirked before giving Gwen a peck and stepping back. Gwen stood, fiddling with her dress before looking up at Arthur.

"I have something to tell you." She said sheepishly, gesturing to the edge of the bed. "You may want to sit down." Arthur looked panicked for a moment before putting on his kingly mask.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, just," She sighed, "Sit down." The king obeyed – it was Gwen after all – and perched lightly on the edge of his bed.

"I went to Gaius this afternoon." She stated, buying time.

"Are you alright?" Arthur lost his facade and looked worried at his Queen.

"I'm fine, I just had a little...stomach ache." Gwen couldn't hold back any more and lifted her face to meet Arthur in a dazzling smile. The king looked confused for a moment before, "Arthur. I'm pregnant."

Nothing.

Taking the lack of response as a sign that Arthur hadn't heard her, she repeated,

"I'm pregnant Arthur." Suddenly, her hand lifted to her mouth to cover the cry of happiness she emitted when the message sunk in. "I'm pregnant!"

Arthur, shock finally subsiding into ecstatic happiness, leapt into the air and swept Gwen off her feet, into his arms.

"Guinevere. Guinevere. Guinevere." He repeated, and the queen could swear his voice broke at the last word. Sure enough, when she leant back to observe him, his eyes were glistening, mirroring Gwen's tears of joy. After several moments of embracing, their thoughts were interrupted by,

"Can I come in yet?"

"Merlin!" Gwen gasped, too happy to be angry at her best friend for listening to their conversation. Surprisingly, this seemed to be Arthur's sentiments too.

"Get in here right now you clotpole." Arthur demanded, grinning. Merlin burst through the doors dramatically and jogged towards his two friends. Before he even had time to come to a halt though, Arthur was scooping him up into a bear hug to rival any other bear hugs Merlin had ever had. Except maybe Percival's.

That day was a happy one for all of those in the castle. They made Queen Guinevere's pregnancy known to the wider residents of Camelot a couple of months later. For the remaining months of Gwen's pregnancy, the castle was abuzz with cheerful jokes, laughter and love. None more so, however, than the day after a new princess was brought into the world.

*0*0*

A feast was taking place. Well, a small feast. Strictly family and close friends only. One of the tables was lined with Elyan, Leon, Percival and Gwaine and on the other side, Merlin, Gaius and Hunith. Merlin's mother was seen as a mother to both Gwen and Arthur, especially the queen, who had spent many a month under her wing during her banishment. Of course, at the head of the table sat King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, both beaming happily and chatting to the people around them. Merlin was sitting furthest away from Arthur, but somehow the king was managing just fine to wind his manservant up. Suddenly, the sound of clinking glass could be heard as Elyan stood. Silence fell onto the group.

"I'm not too great at making speeches, but I've had a bit to drink so what the heck." He admitted sheepishly, to a chuckle of laughter. He turned to the queen, "Gwen, my dear sister, you have made me so proud so many times over the past years. Time and time again you proved to me how truly remarkable you are. Time and time again, you've proved yourself to be a wonderful Queen. Long may it continue." Elyan was backed up by nods and appreciative smiles. "When our mother died, you proved yourself then. You looked after our father and I, better than anyone else could have. You worked hard to raise money and kept us fed, and never asked for anything in return. I saw a bit of a mother in you then, and I am glad to see it return. You will make an amazing mother Gwen and I know you will make me proud to by your baby's uncle. To Gwen." Everyone said in union. Elyan was beaming by the end of the speech, and sat down to applause and a tearful Gwen. He then shot up again and said quickly, "Look after them Arthur." And sat back down to guffaws of laughter.

The king was the next to stand up now, holding onto Gwen's hand. "Thank you Elyan. Don't worry, I will." Elyan raised his glass in acknowledgement. "Now, a few of you have _inquired_ about who will be our little girl's god parent. And as wonderful of a god parent you would make Gwaine, it's not you." Arthur teased, to the response of mock disappointment from the said knight. "The man I've chosen has been a friend for many, many years. To both Gwen and I, and I would go as far as to say that we both owe it to him that we are here at all. He is loyal, fiercely so, and kind. He always has our best interests in mind, even though he acts like he doesn't have one. All the things we need in godfather." Arthur turned to Merlin, smirking at the still-clueless young man. "Merlin?"

"Yes sire?" Merlin said confusedly. Gwaine snorted out his drink in laughter and Percival whacked him on the back.

"Well?" Arthur asked. Merlin's face remained blank. The king signed. "Would you like to be the godfather?"

"Oh!" Merlin said, and his face lit up in happiness. "Yes, yes of course!" He then paused for a minute before saying, "I don't act like I don't have a brain."

Amidst the laughter coming from the occupants of the table in response to Merlin's comment, Arthur raised his glass in Merlin's direction and said loudly;

"To Merlin."

*0*0*

SQUEEEEEEE. Aw I loved that one. :3

REMEMBER, please drop me a review, it would mean the world! 3


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